The Life and Death of Sophie Stark

"I read The Life and Death of Sophie Stark with my heart in my mouth. Not only a dissection of genius and the havoc it can wreak, but also a thunderously good story."--Emma Donoghue, New York Times bestselling author of Room

"This novel is perceptive, subtle, funny and lingers in unexpected ways. The analysis of a woman who puts her art above all else is equal parts inspiration and warning story. Anna North makes prose look easy."--Lena Dunham

Who is Sophie Stark? A brilliant filmmaker, a lover, a wife, a friend, a traitor. A troubled misfit who becomes a star, at great cost to the people who love her and, ultimately, to herself. Gripping and provocative, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is a story of the power of art to transform lives and to destroy them, and of an artist's drive to create something greater than herself, even if it means sacrificing everything--and everyone--she loves.

Reviews

THIS YEAR'S BLOCKBUSTER. If the Girl on the Train was the woman of 2015, then Sophie Stark is this year's model... Out now - soon every girl on every train will be reading it. SUNDAY TIMES STYLE

Thriller-paced, with mysteries revealed at every turn. The great mystery at the centre is Sophie Stark, a totally unforgettable female anti-hero who conforms to absolutely none of our expectations and suffers deeply for it -- Lena Dunham

I read THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK with my heart in my mouth. Not only a dissection of genius and the havoc it can wreak, but also a thunderously good story. -- Emma Donoghue

Anna North is a natural, butter-smooth storyteller, and The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is an elegant, kaleidoscopic look at a challenging artist and at the way our lives are, in some respects, only silhouettes made from the perceptions of those who know us. -- Maggie Shipstead, author of SEATING ARRANGEMENTS

Do not miss Anna North's fascinating study of one woman told from different viewpoints in THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK. STYLIST MAGAZINE

Anna North's The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is a captivating portrait of the artist as a young woman. It's a story that examines the notion of artistic legacy and meditates on the ethics involved in film-making and storytelling... THE INDEPENDENT

For fans of A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD GRAZIA, THE BEST OF THE NEW BOOKS The year's must read. GLAMOUR Told from the perspective of six people whose lives were irrevocably shaped by Sophie Stark, the second novel from New York Times journalist Anna North is both a complex examination of the price of genius and an unputdownable page-turner. Jennifer Egan, look out. You have competition. THE POOL

Jennifer Egan, eat your heart out -- Sam Baker

In alternating chapters of this involving novel, Sophie's brother, ex-lover, a crush and a film critic give their versions of the truth, and reveal the high cost of a living a life dedicated to art. PSYCHOLOGIES

Unfolds with pace and intrigue, creating a highly readable portrait of an artist through the eyes of those she loved, used, immortalised and damaged -- Cathy Rentzenbrink Bookseller This hotly tipped U.S. debut is tremendously good... A beautifully-told novel about a singular woman and the slippery power of art to simultaneously reveal and obscure a multiplicity of stories. DAILY MAIL

Sophie Stark is a cleverly assembled work that examines the maniacal devotion it takes to create art. It's also a fun dive into the world of movie-making, and a character study that will move you to tears. HUFFINGTON POST

Bold and enthralling Buzzfeed

Fierce, page-turning Marie Claire US Provocative ... North's prose is as skilful as her protagonist's shot list New York Times Sophie Stark is one of the most unusual books I've ever read. I was immediately hooked on brilliantly drawn characters and such a clever structure. I absolutely loved it and was so moved at the end I was left feeling kind of numb -- Isy Suttie

The brilliant and infuriating Sophie Stark makes films said to be "more like life than life itself", but her genius comes at a terrible cost to her husband, to the brother she left behind, and to an actress who knows too much.THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK is the story of an enigmatic film director, told by the six people who loved her most. BUZZFEED

Hotly tipped Brooklyn-based author and New York Times journalist Anna North has been making waves in the US with this book, with the likes of Lena Dunham among its fans. It's the story of idiosyncratic documentary filmmaker Sophie Stark, told at thriller-pace by six people who loved her most. BIG ISSUE

This richly realised first novel gives us multiple perspectives on its elusive protagonist... Gripping and graceful THE GUARDIAN

Anna North has delivered a smart, sweet, sad and tender novel exploring the power of love and the nature of artistic vision and legacy. DIVA MAGAZINE

Lena Dunham is massively into this hotly tipped US novel and so am I... Part musing on fame and identity, part thriller, it's one of those books that pervades your thoughts long after the end Glamour Told by different narrators, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is one of the big books of 2016 Stylist

MAKING AN ENTRANCE: STUNNING DEBUTS FROM THE LITERARY WORLD'S NEW POWER PLAYERS: 'Memories of a powerful woman told by the six people who loved her most' Elle

The world is crackling with electric praise for Anna North's new novel GRAZIA

It's a completely compelling read that asks whether broken hearts and ruined relationships are prices worth paying in the name of creativity. SUNDAY EXPRESS

Author description

Anna North is a journalist working for the New York Times, whose writing has previously appeared in San Francisco Chronicle, The Paris Review, Jezebel, and BuzzFeed. She lives in Brooklyn.